


Lifeblood

by LittleTortieCat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: I did not deal well with Narti's death, as you can see
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-17 00:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12353853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleTortieCat/pseuds/LittleTortieCat
Summary: Narti was alone. She had never been alone since Lotor had found her. It hurt, she realised. It hurt being alone. It hurt being forced to betray her friends.





	Lifeblood

The whispering voices slowly disappeared from Narti's head, but the fog remained, thickening in the nooks and crannies of her brain. She was aware of a dull pain in her abdomen, and although she tried, she could not move her body. It was cold. So cold. It was then she realised that this was where her time would end.  
As Narti lay bleeding out her life force on the cold metal floor, her previous comrades leaving her there and Kova watching her die, she couldn't help but reminisce on the day her pitiful life had took an upturn. The day Prince Lotor found her.

Narti didn't know where she came from, or what species she was apart from half-Galra, or how she was supposed to use her talents. She had grown up in the back alleys of a city planet, surviving on scraps. She had never known what it was like to see light then, nor what her childhood home, if it could be called that, had looked like. All she had known was the fight to survive. She had quickly discovered her ability to control people through mere touch was a useful advantage in a life where one misstep could prove fatal. She had schemed and tricked and stolen her way through her first few growth cycles, always on the run, always checking her surroundings for danger. It had been an awful place for a youngling to grow up in, but she hadn't known it then. She hadn't known anything.  
One old homeless woman had raised her from a babe, and gave her her name, Narti. Apparently it was meant to mean 'destined for a higher purpose'. Narti found it ridiculous. What sort of higher purpose would want anything to do with her?  
Then had come that one fateful day. She had been cornered, by whom she wasn't sure. But there were many of them, and they were bigger than her. They were stronger too, but not faster. Narti had used her limited senses to avoid them for as long as she could, and had taken out as many as she could along the way, but one had given her a blow to the leg which had sent her staggering into a wall. She was trapped.  
Narti knew that people like her could die easily in a situation like this. Orphan brats died every day in this deadly world she lived in. So she had raised her head and waited patiently for the finishing blow. After all, what had she really had to live for?  
But the death blow had never come. There was the clashing of swords and yells and grunts, before silence. Narti waited motionlessly, before deducting that someone had come to her rescue. Someone had protected _her_ , a worthless half-breed with no future. All of a sudden, the sound of armour heralded the approach of somebody with soft footsteps. Narti prepared to run. There was a large chance they would turn on her any moment, as so often happened.  
"My name is Lotor," came the voice of her rescuer, stopping before her. "You probably haven't heard of me, owing to this... place where you live."  
Narti tensed her body. She was uncertain of this Lotor person, as she was of anyone. However, he had saved her. Making her way to her feet, she stumbled when she put weight on her injured leg.  
Abruptly, she felt Lotor support her, throwing her arm over his shoulder. "You shouldn't put any weight on that leg," he said softly, and Narti could hear the sincerity in his voice. "Come with me, I can get it fixed."  
Well, she thought, she couldn't really get away, and Lotor didn't seem to mean her any harm. She might as well play along for now. She brushed her fingers on his bare skin, and he stiffened as their minds touched. _My name is Narti._

Lotor supported her along some alleyways, going to a place she didn't recognise before guiding her into a small spacecraft. He sat her down on a bench before leaving her alone. The spaceship started up, and she was jolted gently as it left the surface. Narti panicked secretly, but was also a little excited. She had never thought she would leave the planet she had grown up on. Narti had allowed herself to imagine travelling between the planet's once or twice, but the rational part of her had quickly shut those thoughts down. Who would want a blind Galra hybrid on board their ship? The very idea was laughable.  
And yet, here she was, entering space for the very first time in her life. The thought sent a tremble of interest through her body as the ship seemed to speed up. It must be leaving the atmosphere, she thought.  
"Narti?" She turned to where Lotor's voice was originating from. "I'm assuming you cannot see not speak. Nod your head if I am correct." Narti nodded slowly. "I see."  
If Narti knew how to scowl, she would have scowled at him in that moment. After a short time passed, the ship slowed down and there was clunking and clanging in the background. "That is this small craft entering my larger cruiser. Do not worry, I only want to help. My companions nor I will harm you." Narti suddenly felt Lotor pulling her up and carrying her out of the small spaceship. Companions?  
"Lotor!"  
"Lotor! You're back!"  
Narti struggled to figure out where the voices were coming from, turning her head from side to side.  
"Lotor, who is this?"  
"Axca, Ezor, this is Narti. She is injured. Prepare some quintessence to heal her."  
"Right away sir." Metallic footsteps echoed on the floor.  
"Hello! I'm Ezor. Did Lotor pick you out of the back streets like us?" Narti felt herself being lifted from Lotor to a smaller person. She assumed it was Ezor. "Wow, you don't weigh much at all! How did you get injured? Were you in a fight? Did Lotor save you?"  
"Ezor, Narti cannot speak nor see. Although she does seem to have some sort of telepathic ability."  
"Oh, right. Is that right Narti?" Ezor began to support Narti along some corridors, taking a series of right angle turns. "Can you read minds? Ooh! Can you read my mind? What am I thinking right now?"  
Narti activated her ability and entered Ezor's head. _I can only use my talent when directly touching the person I intend to influence._  
"Oh! Awesome!" Ezor chattered away until they entered a room.  
"Here Ezor, I have the quintessence injection prepared," came a voice which Narti assumed belonged to Axca.  
"All righty then! Narti, I'm gonna lie you down on this table. We're just gonna give you an injection to help you heal. However, it's probably gonna make you feel a bit weird. Okay?"  
Narti nodded as she stretched out on the table. It was uncomfortable, but she had slept on worse things than metal tables. There was a pinprick of pain on her leg, before an incredible rush of energy raced around her body. She arched her back as the wave of energy was followed by an intense itching in her leg. Then, as quickly as it began, it was over.  
"Hey Narti, that wasn't too bad, was it?" asked Ezor. Narti shook her head slowly as exhaustion washed over her. "You feeling tired? It usually makes you feel tired. Go ahead and sleep for a bit." Narti was barely aware of a sheet being draped over her as she sank into the most relaxed sleep she had ever experienced in her life.

When she awoke, she came to her senses slowly. It took a while before she realised there was something warm on top of her. She froze, before tentatively raising a hand to poke the object. Her hand met smooth fur, and Narti thought it might be a small species of some kind. The animal moved, a tail brushing against Narti's arm. It made a small noise that could be called a meow, before standing up on Narti's chest. Narti tensed. Was it friendly, or was it going to kill her whilst she was defenceless? She prepared to enter combat with the creature, before she was disturbed by the sound of a door opening.  
"Good, you're awake." It was Lotor. The creature jumped off her chest and mellowed again. "I see Kova found you. I hope he did not cause you alarm."  
Narti sat up on the metal table. She heard Lotor sit down across from her, and knew that she was finally going to find out why he had brought her here.  
"I'm certain you are wanting to know why I brought you aboard my ship," began Lotor. "And that's why I won't spend time making this sound inviting and appealing.  
"I would like you to stay here and become my general. I have seen your potential to become an extremely powerful soldier. You would live on this ship along with Axca, Ezor and I, training to help extend the Galra Empire. For not many know this, but Zarkon has a son. And I am that son. I am Prince Lotor, heir to the throne. Your life would not be easy-"  
Narti rose to her feet and crossed the short distance to Lotor before she was fully aware of what she was doing. Touching him, she thought, _I accept._  
She let go of him and Lotor rose to his feet. "I knew you would. We shall inform Axca and Ezor together, shall we?"  
Without a shred of regret for what she was leaving behind, Narti stepped into her new life with confidence she never knew she had.

Zethrid had not entered their group until much later. In the growth cycle or so Narti had gone through since meeting Lotor, she had spent time with the Druids, learning to harness the full power of her telepathy. In that time, she had formed a special bond with Kova, which lead her to learning to see through his eyes. She had finally learnt what her comrades looked like, and it had allowed her to exercise her abilities to the full.  
Lotor had been visiting a moon of thieves and ruffians, the sort of place they had to stop by often when they were led by an exiled prince, when he had to return unexpectedly with a couple of pirates on his heels. Lotor had returned to the cruiser with a hulking woman in tow, who he explained he had found in the fighting pits of the planet.  
Staring at them with unbridled hostility, she had muttered that her name was Zethrid and she was only here because Lotor had said she could blow things up. Ezor had been her usual cheery self, but Zethrid had ignored her completely. Axca had ended up having to comfort her later.  
Zethrid had been on board for a few turns when Narti encountered her in the food preparation room. Narti preferred not to eat with others, so she had been about to leave when Kova leapt from his usual position on her shoulder to sit on the table next to Zethrid's plate of meat. Reluctantly, Narti gathered herself some food and sat at the other end of the table from Zethrid. There was a long awkward silence before Zethrid said gruffly, "You're the one that doesn't talk, aren't you?"  
Narti nodded.  
"Can't see either?"  
Narti nodded again. The silence stretched on, before Kova leant down, and, from what Narti could glean from his mind, stole some of the meat from Zethrid's plate. Narti tensed. That could not be a good idea. Zethrid was emotionless for a second, before bursting into deep booms of laughter. Kova walked deliberately over to Narti, and hopped onto her shoulder. Zethrid finally stopped laughing and said, "Oh, that felt good."  
Narti, uncertain of what to do, stood up, intending to have her meal in her room. However, before she left, she hard Zethrid say, "I suppose I should apologise." Narti stopped. "I... know I haven't been very friendly since I came here, but it's because where I came from, I couldn't trust anyone. It was a place where you had no friends and any you did somehow manage to make would turn on you in the end. It... wasn't nice, and so when Lotor gave me this opportunity, I took it."  
Narti tentatively put her hand on Zethrid's shoulder. _I understand._  
Narti couldn't see what happened next, but she was sure Zethrid smiled.

All of these memories found their way into Narti's head as she lay there on the floor, alone apart from Kova. She remember how she had felt when all five of them had been together. She had felt... happy.  
Ezor and Axca had always been kind to her, and Zethrid had often been happy to play with Kova together with her. They had been from all parts of the galaxy, but they had been friends, family almost. Lotor had watched over them, guiding, laughing with them. She had been so grateful for that day he had taken her from the slums of a city planet to the incredible life she had lead.  
However, she should have known it was too good to last. All it had taken was one glance from Haggar and suddenly Narti had lost herself. She had been lost in the fog, alone and wandering.   
It was cold, so icy cold.  
Narti could feel her lifeblood leaving her. It was seeping out of her body, soaking the floor. The sounds of the battle were ever more distant, and a strange sort of calm overtook Narti. She supposed this wasn't a good way to end her life, being mind controlled by a witch and ending up dying by the sword of her commanding officer.  
So cold... She was going numb...  
Narti suddenly wished she could speak. Funny, she had never felt any desire for something she didn't have really. But the only thing she wanted now... was to be able to say the names of her friends... just once... just once...

Narti's body lay on the metal floor, alone and forgotten in the carnage of the battle, her lifeblood staining the armour she had been so proud to wear.

**Author's Note:**

> Um, yeah. I loved Narti.  
> Well, I'm just gonna dump this quickly written angst and goooo...


End file.
